1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of decorative fashion accessories either removably affixed to footwear, removably affixed around footwear, permanently affixed to footwear or permanently affixed around footwear.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Women typically wear scarves, hats, belts, rings, earrings, necklaces, wrist bands and other accessories to change their wardrobes or make a fashion statement. Usually, the accessories include clasps, buckles, snaps, etc. that enable them to be securely attached to a particular piece of clothing. The accessories are also normally worn at a location where the accessory or accessories are easily visible.
Footwear is considered to be a fashion accessories by all people, especially women. Footwear may be made in different styles such as shoes with heels of varying heights, shoes which are flat, boots, loafers, sandals, and tennis shoes. Shoes may also be made out of different materials and colors. Shoes may also include different styles of clasps, straps and buckles. Users typically do not wear jewelry or other objects attached to the outside surfaces of the footwear because the jewelry or other objects can be easily dislodged.
The inventor of the present application and the owner of the assignee of the present invention are both aware of the following fifteen (15) prior art issued patents and published patent applications which are relevant to the present invention:
1. U.S. Pat. No. 1,273,376 issued to Le Roy F. Jones on Jul. 23, 1918 for “Detachable Bow Support for Shoes” (hereafter the “Jones Patent”);
2. U.S. Pat. No. 2,871,602 issued to Faith H. Uldall on Feb. 3, 1959 for “Heel Ornament Mounting Band for Women's Shoes” (hereafter the “Uldall Patent”);
3. U.S. Pat. No. 4,026,047 issued to Joseph C. Ahmer at al. on May 31, 1977 for “Decorative Device for Converting Street Shoes to Dress Shoes” (hereafter the “Ahmer Patent”);
4. U.S. Pat. No. 5,496,612 issued to Jayne M. Ransbottom on Mar. 5, 1996 for “Shoe Adornment” (hereafter the “Ransbottom Patent”);
5. U.S. Pat. No. 7,328,528 issued to Holly Caminiti on Feb. 12, 2008 for “Removably Attachable Decoration for Footwear” (hereafter the “Caminiti Patent”);
6. United States Published Patent Application No. 2009/0107011 to John H. Klooster et al. on Apr. 30, 2009 for “System and Method for Securing Accessories to Clothing” (hereafter the “Klooster Published Patent Application”);
7. United States Published Patent Application No. 2010/0058619 to Stacy Ferrante et al. on Mar. 11, 2010 for “Sandal with Charms Suspended in Fluid and Attachable Charms” (hereafter the “Ferrante Published Patent Application”);
8. United States Published Patent Application No. 2010/0307031 to Mario Granito on Dec. 9, 2010 for “Footwear Fitment” (hereafter the “Granito Published Patent Application”);
9. United States Design Patent No. D629,600 issued to Neetan Mandalia on Dec. 28, 2010 for “Shoe Heel Clip” (hereafter the “Mandalia Design Patent”);
10. United States Design Patent No. D659,376 issued to Colleen S. John on May 15, 2012 for “Jewelry Attachment for Footwear” (hereafter the “John Design Patent”);
11. United States Published Patent Application No. 2012/0174442 to Wanda Marie Castle on Jul. 12, 2012 for “Decorative Boot Clip” (hereafter the “Castle Published Patent Application”);
12. United States Published Patent Application No. 2013/0025164 to Rene Euresti et al. on Jan. 31, 2013 for “Method and Articles for Adornment of Footwear” (hereafter the “Euresti Published Patent Application”);
13. U.S. Pat. No. 8,667,712 issued to Asher Baum on Mar. 11, 2014 for “Footwear Design Personalizing” (hereafter the “Baum Patent”);
14. United States Published Patent Application No. 2014/0215859 to Susan Leo on Aug. 7, 2014 for “Shoe Charm Holder Device” (hereafter the “Leo Published Patent Application”);
15. PCT Publication No. WO 2010/014972 to Michelle M. Juza et al. on Feb. 4, 2010 for “Apparatus, Method and System for Using Interchangeable Decorative Elements with Footwear” (hereafter the “Juza PCT Publication”).
The Jones Patent discloses a plate which is affixed to the front of the shoe as illustrated in FIG. 1 and then the plate itself has keyholes and the ornament such as bow, has mating keyholes that fit into the opening of the inner slit to be retained in the narrow portion of the keyhole.
The Uldall Patent discloses a band to which the ornaments are affixed but the band effectively is a spring mechanism which is retained on the interior of the shoe which is adjacent the heel by a spring force which causes the band to go against the interior of the heel and then decorative items can be affixed to the band. The concept of the prongs as shown in the provisional patent application is not disclosed in this patent.
The Ahmer Patent discloses a decorative device for converting street shoes to dress shoes. In this embodiment a flexible connector is wrapped around the heel of the shoe then it is stretched so that brackets go around the back of the heel to affix the mounting bracket to the shoe. Decorative items are then affixed to this attachment. The method by which the bracket is affixed to the shoe, which as best illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, is a portion that is wrapped around the heel of the shoe and then has an extended section which has two tabs that go around the upper end of the back of the shoe and then the decorative items are affixed at the location between the portion that is wrapped around the heel of the shoe and the two tabs that retain the entire device onto the back of the shoe.
The Ransbottom Patent discloses a band which wraps around the shoe, usually in the front of the shoe, and then has wires around it and the decorative ornament has an attachment mechanism which is affixed to the band by affixation members.
The Caminiti Patent discloses an elastic band that is wrapped around a portion of the shoe and then has a pair of hook members which are affixed to locations on the decoration which receives the hook members to enable the decoration to be affixed to the shoe through the elastic band being wrapped around the shoe. The band can be wrapped around different locations of the shoe but the fundamental principle is that the band is wrapping around the portion of the shoe and then is affixed by hook members that wrap around the band and then are hooked onto the ornament to be retained.
The Klooster Published Patent Application discloses a strap which went from one side of the shoe to the other side of the shoe with a closing member that would go over the strap to close one portion of the strap over the other portion of the strap to effectively have the shoe which primarily was a sandal securely affixed to the person's foot. The innovation as it relates to the present invention is that there were decorative accessories affixed to the strap with a member from the accessory that went under the strap and therefore when then top strap under which the attaching member was located was affixed securely to the opposite side of the strap, the decoration which was affixed to the attaching member sat on top of the upper strap and was held in place by the force of the upper strap section being affixed to lower strap section.
The Ferrante Published Patent Application discloses a strap affixed to a sandal where the decorative ornament would be placed around the strap or could be in a fluid within the strap.
The Granito Published Patent Application discloses a filament, which essentially is a piece of material which can be inserted inside the shoe and has extending from it a flat member, which extends outside the shoe and to which an ornament is affixed.
The John Design Patent discloses a pair of members with a hooked end where the hooked ends have openings by which members can be affixed onto the shoe through a threading of a bolt or screw. There is a strap member located between the two and an ornament can be affixed to the strap member.
The Castle Published Patent Application discloses a decorative boot clip. In this case, the decoration member wraps around the rim of the boot and decorations can extend from the exterior portion which is on the outside portion of the rim of the boot. The exterior portion can have decorations designed into it or affixed to it.
The Mandalia Design Patent discloses a pair of affixation members that are attached on opposite sides of the shoe and go around the outside of the shoe with a third member in the middle to which a decorative ornament would be attached and extending behind the back of the shoe.
The Euresti Published Patent Application discloses having a fastening member that snaps onto a location of a shoe and can also have a pair of fastening members with a chain between them onto which a decorative element is affixed.
The Baum Patent discloses permanently attaching a member to a location on the shoe, including the side of the shoe or the back of the shoe, and then having an interlocking member which locks with the attaching member to which ornaments are attached. However, the base member is permanently affixed into the shoe and the locking member is a mating member which has prongs that are offset from the portion that is affixed to the shoe so that they can be interlocked together and to which the designs can be attached.
The Leo Published Patent Application discloses a shoe charm holder. The holder is affixed to the bottom of the shoe at the location between the heel of a high heel shoe and the base portion where the bottom of the women's foot rests and the decoration is affixed at that location between the interior of the heel and the interior of the bottom of the shoe.
The Juza PCT Application is for an apparatus, method and system for using interchangeable decorative elements with footwear. The invention discloses methods for changing designs onto a shoe, primarily a sandal which has various strap members and other members, some of which are permanently affixed to the sandal others of which are removably affixed to which a decoration is attached.
There is a significant need for accessories affixed to footwear which is a substantial improvement and innovation over the items disclosed in the prior art.